Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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71. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the arrangements for the establishment of an independent military air regulator within his Department, the establishment of which has been recommended by previous independent safety reports and is also common practice in other EU states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20949/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Defence commissioned a report from an expert consultancy firm, Bureau Veritas (BV), to exam military aviation regulation, oversight and safety in the Irish context. The BV report recommended that a Military Aviation Authority (MAA) should be established and that it should be independent and free from influence or control of any Operating Authority.

Following the presentation of the BV report, the Department of Defence appointed a joint civil/military team whose objective was to establish a basis for the development of an independent authority for the oversight of military aviation safety and licencing on behalf of the Minister for Defence. The joint team developed a draft report which proposed a number of means by which this could be achieved.

Officials in my Department at a senior level are considering these proposals with a view to ensuring that the establishment of such an authority, its staffing and governance is such that the Authority can conduct its essential business in the most efficient way possible and guarantee its fundamental independent nature.